Henri Cueco
| Henri Cueco | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
19 October 1929 Uzerche, Corrèze, France |
| Died | 13 March 2017 (aged 87) Paris, France |
| Cause of death | Alzheimer's disease |
| Residence | Paris, France Vigeois, Corrèze, France |
| Occupation | Painter, essayist, novelist, radio personality |
| Political party | French Communist Party (1956–1976) |
| Spouse(s) | Marinette Cueco |
| Parent(s) | Vicente Cueco |
| Relatives | Pablo Cueco |
Henri Cueco (19 October 1929 – 13 March 2017) was a French painter, essayist, novelist and radio personality. As a self-taught painter, his work was exhibited internationally. He was the author of several books, including collections of essays and novels. He was also a contributor to France Culture. A communist-turned-libertarian, he was a co-founder of Coopérative des Malassis, an anti-consumerist artists' collective. He was best-known for The Red Men, a series of figurative paintings depicting aspects of the Cold War like the May 1968 events, the Vietnam War and Red Scare, and his 150 still lifes, or "portraits," of potatoes.
Henri Cueco was born on 19 October 1929 in Uzerche, Corrèze, a rural part of France. His father, Vicente Cueco, was an immigrant from Spain. His mother was French. He was essentially self-taught, though his father also taught him how to paint from the age of 13.
Cueco began his career as a landscape painter in the 1950s. He became a figurative painter, associated with the school of Nouvelle figuration in 1960s. His artwork was political, and he was a critic of materialism and minimalism. He did paintings of hunting dogs and snakes, followed by 150 still lifes, or "portraits," of potatoes.
In 1969–1970, Cueco co-founded an artists collective called Coopérative des Malassis with Lucien Fleury, Jean-Claude Latil, Michel Parré and Gérard Tisserand. Together, they designed a politically satirical fresco called Le Grand Méchoui in 1972. They designed Qui tue ? ou l’affaire Gabrielle Russier in 1973. They also designed Radeau de la Méduse ou la Dérive de la société, a decor on consumerism in the Grand'Place, Grenoble, in 1973–1975. They designed Les affaires reprennent in 1977.
His work was first exhibited at the Salon de la Jeune peinture, followed by the Atelier populaire. In 1970, he exhibited The Red Men, a series of paintings on the Cold War (including the May 1968 events, the Vietnam War and the Red Scare), at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. In 1986, when he exhibited an irreverent portrait of Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Mao Zedong in Beijing, China, he was asked to take it down. The painting included the following quotation by Henri Jeanson: "Capitalism is the exploitation of men by men. Communism? It is the opposite."
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